


Pile Of Cubs

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Chaos [82]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Family, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mama Bear Stephen Strange, Other, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 02:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20922776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: Sometimes Stephen needs more than just a nap to get his stress levels down, and Peter needs some reassurance.





	Pile Of Cubs

Tony came up to the family floor from the lab a little after noon and had his attention on the tablet in his hand as he stepped off the elevator. Pepper had called and harassed him about his filling email inbox and also to remind him about the meeting he had in a couple of hours that he totally forgot about. Not that he would admit that out loud, but it didn't matter since that was the sole reason Pepper called him. That was why she was his CEO. She said she had tried calling Stephen first, but when he didn't answer, assumed he was dimension hopping and tried her chances at calling Tony directly. Except, Stephen most definitely _was not_ dimension hopping, so that was another reason Tony went back upstairs instead of staying in the lab until the last possible minute.

He needed to make sure everything was okay.

Neither Friday nor Victor alerted him to any problems, so it had the billionaire scratching his head. At least for the first ten seconds after stepping onto their floor.

"Honey? Pepper said she tried to call you. It was just to remind me about a meeting I--" 

Tony stops when he enters the living room. All his questions about the sorcerer's whereabouts answered when he looked down on the floor. All of the kids were piled together, and it took a little bit of head tilting to find out that, yes, Stephen was buried under all of them. He was laying on his stomach snoozing away with seven kids laying on top, against, or across him, all sleeping as well with the menu of a movie replaying on the tv. Their three kids, the three Barton kids, and Cassie were all sprawled out, some part of them touching Mama Bear...and even Tibbs was a part of the pile. He likely just saw the cub pile and wanted to join the cuddling and wedged himself into whatever free space he could find.

It happened to be the back of Stephen's neck.

"Fri...tell the Barton's and the dumbass version of me and Stephen where their kids are and to get them at their own risk." Tony mumbles quietly as he exits the living room and walks into the kitchen instead.  
FRIDAY responds quietly so not to disturb the living room occupants. "Scott and Quill have been notified. Clint and Laura already know."  
"They must have..." Tony looks back up from his tablet and finds the Barton couple sitting at the kitchen table with some lunch. "...raided my fridge. Did you try to get your kids?"  
Clint shudders. "I tried to grab Nate and your wife opened his eyes...and they were completely green. So I backed off and he closed his eyes again. Mama Bear kind of scares me."  
Laura smiles. "We decided to enjoy the quiet instead."  
"Good call. It won't last. You got an extra one of those?" Tony motions toward their sandwiches with his free hand and Laura points behind him to the island behind him.

A large plate stacked full of different types of sandwiches sat on the counter with some plastic wrap draped loosely over it to keep it somewhat fresh. There was plenty to feed Tony, Stephen, six normal appetites, and then his mutant teenager's appetite. It must have been Laura. She was one of the few that knew just how much Peter could eat since she helped make dinner whenever she, Clint, and the kids visited the tower. She knew how to feed the two super soldiers and the resident god as well. She and the rest of the cooking members.

A good thirty minutes passed in quiet as the three finish their lunch and Tony gets through a good chunk of his emails when Nate and Diana were the first to wake and join them. Laura got up and gave them each their preferred sandwich when they climbed onto a chair at the table and they eat sleepily, their lunch slowly giving them needed energy.

"Hey Little Miss." Tony leans over Diana and kisses the top of her head. "Have a nice nap with Mom?"  
"Mmhmm..."  
"Good. I gotta leave for a meeting soon so can you help keep your brothers out of trouble?"  
Diana nods. "Cassie can help right?"  
"Sure. She'll keep Underoos on his best behavior."  
Clint chuckles. "Whipped."  
"That's what I said but he denies it at every turn." Tony says as he turns off his tablet and places it on the counter.

A muffled low baritone voice reaches them in the kitchen and a few moments later, the rest of the kids shuffle in and grab some food, joining Nate and Diana at the table. Tibbs was next to trot in, and much to Tony's amusement, he hopped onto one of the bar stools at the island before hopping onto Tony's shoulders.

"Don't get comfortable furball."  
"What are you doing up here? I thought you were down in the lab." Stephen says with a yawn as he steps over to Tony and grabs Tibbs off his shoulders.  
"Was just telling the favorite child that I have a meeting soon." Tony says after kissing the sorcerer and handing him a sandwich. Peter and Harley stop midchew and glare up at the engineer who grins back. "How was the cub pile nap?"  
"Rejuvenating." Stephen holds his sandwich away from Tibbs' questing paw. "When are you leaving?"  
"Thought I might leave now. Give Pepper a heart attack for being early." Stephen snorts in response as Tony walks back to the elevator. "I love you demon children and princess. Be back in a few hours!"  
"Rude." Peter and Harley mumble in unison and Diana waves.  
"Bye Daddy! Guess what!"  
"What?"  
"I love you three thousand!"

Tony raises both eyebrows and looks at Stephen with a smirk.

"You hear that _tesoro_? Three thousand. Wow."  
Stephen rolls his eyes. "How ever will I amount to that level?" He asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
"I think that puts you in the five hundred range--"  
"Leave before I throw Tibbs at you." The sorcerer threatens.

Tony smiles and smooches at him with a wink before the elevator doors close and Stephen places Tibbs on the ground. The gray tabby meows at him and he sighs before tearing off a piece of his lunch meat and leaning over to offer it to the feline. Tibbs takes it with a loud purr and Stephen takes the empty seat next to Diana that Tony had occupied earlier. 

The 'cub pile' that Tony and the other parents so fondly called it really was rejuvenating to Stephen. Especially magic wise. Having the kids around while he rested always helped lower his stress levels, but the pile? Instant calm. Stress levels lowered and his magic regulated itself...and really...it was the kids. In the past, the kids would have been the last thing to calm Stephen, but now they were a big part of it. All the kids loved him, he wasn't really sure how that happened with the other four kids but it did. Maybe it had to do with how he cared for them when they were sick or whenever Clint or Scott asked him to watch their kids.

To think this all started with Peter.

"...is Dia really the favorite?" Peter asks and Stephen shakes his head.  
"He was just being Tony." Laura says for Stephen. "There's no such thing as a favorite child."  
"That's not what Dad said." Lila says and Clint points at her.  
"I told you that in confidence. Way to throw me under the bus."

Laura scoffs and smacks her husband's hand down, and the archer grins as he assures her and the kids that he was joking. After lunch, the Barton's went back down to their floor, and Cassie elected to stay with Stephen and the other three. Diana wanted to play with her, and FRIDAY said it was best that she stay upstairs anyway. Harley went back to the living room to watch another movie, Cassie and Diana went up to the little girl's room to play, and Peter stayed with Stephen in the kitchen. The teen lays his chin in his hand and pets Tibbs when the feline jumps onto the table, and Stephen cleans up the kitchen. When Peter stayed uncharacteristically quiet though, the sorcerer looked up from the plate he was washing and watches the teen stare out the window.

"Peter...Laura is right you know. There isn't-"  
"Yeah. I know." He interrupts.  
"Is something wrong?"  
"...not really. I just..." Peter trails off and scratches behind Tibbs' ears. "Is it wrong to miss the days when it was just the three of us?"  
Stephen dries the plate and puts it away. "No. You were used to being an only child, then suddenly you gained an older brother and then a sister almost at once. Not only that but then the snap happened. Diana was suddenly older in what seemed like ten seconds to us." Stephen joins Peter at the table by sitting in the seat opposite him. "A lot happened in a year for you."  
"For all of us really." Peter says and Stephen had to agree.

Peter wasn't the only one who had to adjust. Harley lost and gained family, Dia was born...then the snap happened. Tony lost Stephen and the boys, raised Diana _and_ Cassie by himself and that thought just led to Stephen's heartache. He didn't get to watch Diana grow up. Sure, he had the rest of her life, but he missed all her firsts. He barely had the memory of her first word and she had just started crawling. Now? She was walking, talking, full of sass, and already in kindergarten. At least he wasn't completely alone in the regards of missing out on five years of his child's life. Scott missed out with Cassie too.

Sometimes the few pictures and videos that FRIDAY took weren't enough. Those were the days that Stephen dropped everything to spend the day with his daughter. Things took time to flow after everyone returned. Diana had to adjust to actually having Stephen and the boys in her life.

"We all have bad days Peter. I'm sure Tibbs does too since he was snapped as well."  
Peter snorts. "I don't think he really counts. He accepts pretty much anything."  
"That's true." Stephen chuckles softly.

He would never mention the reality where Tony had died. How broken their family had been. How lost Stephen had been because Peter lost another parent, because Harley had been closest to Tony, and how Diana had been left with near strangers. The sorcerer tried so hard to keep it together for the kids, but the emotional pain was too much. They clung to Stephen, almost never leaving his side, until finally Steve and the others planned one last time heist. It was then that Stephen truly realized what Tony meant to them...to him.

"Are you sure Dad didn't mean it when he said Dia is the favorite?" Peter asks.  
"I'm going to tell you a secret, but you can't tell your father I told you."  
"Okay?"  
"The whole time heist you heard about? It wouldn't have happened if Tony didn't want you and Harley back."  
"And you."  
Stephen smiles. "I was just a bonus."  
"Please...it's a miracle he survived five years without you." Peter leans back in his seat when Tibbs jumps down into Stephen's lap.  
"I believe we have Pepper and Rhodey to thank for that...as well as Cassie."

Peter nods in agreement and Stephen reaches over to run his fingers through the teen's somewhat tamed curls. Of course he knew Tony wanted Stephen back as well, but the boys were definitely what kicked his husband into doing something. He sacrificed himself to give his kids a better world, but they would never know that. Stephen and Scott were the only two who shared that secret. Tony had an idea, but he didn't remember the pain. It was better that way and the two that remembered didn't need to. They had their lives. Their distractions.

Their families. Whole ones.

"Hey Mom! I think I just found porn on tv!" Harley yells from the living room and Stephen instantly scrambles out of his seat, sending Tibbs to the floor. He races into the living room, prepared to snatch the remote to change the channel, but finds an approved movie playing instead. "Ha! I knew that would get your attention. Can we have pizza for dinner tonight?"  
Stephen stares at Harley before narrowing his eyes. "Are you kidding me?!"  
"I don't joke about pizza."

The sorcerer scoffs and grabs a nearby pillow to smother his oldest child with, only letting up when Harley shoves the pillow away. Stephen grabs the remote in retaliation, changes the channel to one of Diana's cartoons, and then walks away with the remote.

"NO! FRIDAY change it back!" Harley yells.  
"Disregard that. Neither you or Victor are to change the channel until I say otherwise." Stephen says and both AI's respond with an affirmative as Peter laughs from the kitchen.


End file.
